To Save A Life
by Wizard of night
Summary: Teddy had always known that one day, James was going to ruin his life. But this was extreme, even for him. Because of James, he might cease to exist. James tries to be a hero and fix the past, without thinking of the consequences. Especially Teddy and his son. And now Teddy has to pick up the pieces. And keep his mother from killing herself. BEATS YOUR AVERAGE TIME TRAVEL FIC!
1. Whispers in the Night

The room was dark, and only soft breathing could be heard. James allowed an evil grin to light the features of his face, making his hazel eyes glitter. He wasn't a beater for nothing; he had brilliant aim. Expertly snitching his younger brother's slipper from the camp bed on his left, he heaved it across the dozing forms of Hugo and Louis to hit his cousin and best friend squarely on the ear.

Fred Weasley swallowed his yelp. James woke him like this every other day, and quite often at night. He sat up, instantly alert, and cast the dark haired boy across the room a questioning look.

James smirked, and beckoned for Fred to follow him outside the room.

"What?" the sixteen year old red head hissed as soon as they crossed the door frame.

"Can't you hear them?" James asked, and to Fred's surprise, it wasn't the joking James that was talking, it was the serious one.

Fred frowned as he listened just the slightest bit harder and found that, not surprisingly, James was right. The dull murmur of voices could just be heard above the drip of the bathroom faucet and heavy breathing. He nodded.

"They were shooting each other those looks at dinner, too. They're plotting something, and I don't think it's Christmas."

"No… I doubt they would be whispering about Christmas in June," Fred muttered, rolling his eyes.

The cousins crept down the stairs, skipping quietly over the creaky ones, and crouched to listen at the kitchen door of the Burrow, where the family congregated often in the summer.

Ginny's voice could just be heard; they were troubling to keep their voices down, which was concerning. James was often kept awake by the shouts of laughter and loud voices that occurred whenever the adults met after bedtime. She was saying, "I just don't think it would work, love. Think of how much it would change; nothing would ever be the same."

There were quiet murmurs of agreement, but Harry's voice broke in in an angry whisper. "Think of Ted if nothing else. He needed the support he didn't have as a teenager, and now that he has children-"

Grandma Molly clearly disagreed with the part about Teddy Lupin lacking support, but her husband shushed her protests. "I'll agree Teddy got a little lost in the shuffle, back then," Arthur said, "But we're beyond that now. We wouldn't want to risk the lives we've built for ourselves on a fling like this that could-"

There was the sound of a chair scraping back across the floor as Harry got up, and they heard the door to the yard slam shut.

Another chair made a scraping sound, but James heard his mother's voice again. "Don't, Ron," she murmured, "He just needs some time to cool down. You know how much effort he's put into this time turner project at the ministry, he really thinks he can get away with it if he goes back."

"Couldn't he, though?" Ron asked quietly, "I mean, if he were still harping on the idea of going back to save his parents, I'd tell him to pipe down a notch, but just Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Fred? I mean, Dumbledore too of course, and then-"

"You see, Ron?" The voice of Percy's wife sighed. "It's just too much. Those deaths had so much impact on them, and some have changed for the better because of it-"

"Better because of it?" an incredulous voice asked, and Fred winced as he heard his father stand too. "Do you think a day hasn't gone by when I haven't wished Fred and I had stayed at the radio station? Keeping the supporters updated was more important anyway, but no. We'd convinced ourselves we could do more good fighting. Do you know how long it's been since-"

He broke off in what may have been a slight sob, and the boys heard him cross the room to follow Harry.

There was general silence. Finally Aunt Hermione broke it, sounding slightly like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone. "It would never work."

Ginny sighed, and she sounded so upset James had to resist the urge to go to her. "Harry's so convinced he can make it better, though. He's been carrying that prototype around in his briefcase ever since they first tested it…"

"Does it work then, the prototype?" Angelina asked. Fred knew that his Mum would throw away everything if it meant his dad was truly happy again.

James could almost hear his Aunt's trademark frown as Hermione chided gently, "We can't go back. We've no idea what it could change."

"What? What so tremendously important could be changed-" Ron interrupted.

Hermione sighed. "You want to get into that? Suppose Fred and George never came that night. Suppose the killing curse hit Percy instead. What does Percy do now? He teaches Defense, and he's a bloody good professor. Suppose in twenty years there's to be another dark lord. Suppose right now Percy's teaching the child who will defeat him. If Percy had died, that child might have wound up with a dolt like Lockheart for a professor. This child no longer has any idea how to bring down a dark lord. The whole of Britain is annihilated. All because we think we could cope with life better if some people hadn't died."

"Bit of a long shot," Bill muttered, and James nodded his head at Fred in agreement.

"But does it work?" Angelina said again. She never had been one to give up on an idea.

"It does," Ron admitted.

"But we will never put that knowledge to use," Ginny said firmly, and her chair too could be heard scraping back from the table. "I'm going to check on Harry."

"Mm," Angelina agreed, and yet another chair screeched across the floor.

Yawns could be heard. "It is getting late," Grandad announced.

"I've got work tomorrow," Ron agreed. A general murmur of assent swept through the room, and more chairs were pushed back from the table. James and Fred exchanged panicked glances and scurried back to the top floor, where they slipped back into the boys' room and sank on to James's camp bed.

"What do you think?" Fred whispered.

"I think Dad and Uncle George are right," James replied instantly.

"But all those things that could happen…"

"Aw, c'mon. They were only speculating," James said.

"You're right, that was a bit far-fetched, I mean, Britain being annihilated just because my dad wants to see his brother…" Fred trailed off, looking skeptical.

"Mm."

"They'd never do it, though. I mean with those guys it's an all for one and one for all deal, I mean, have you ever seen one of them do something when the rest said no? Anything big, I mean, not making Shepard's pie instead of steak…"

"We could do it!" James exclaimed, not quite remembering to keep his voice down.

"What do you mean?"

"We could go back and save everyone! We could tell all the dead people to stay home, meet some kick-butt awesome dudes, then come back. It'll be a snap." James said confidently.

"We could. We even know where the time-turner is-" Fred agreed.

"In my dad's briefcase-" James added.

"In Granddad's study-"

"On the fourth floor." James finished.

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. Now get off my bed. We have to be well rested to go meet the past."

As Fred crept back across the room, Albus Potter rolled over in his bed. Go meet the past, they said. Well his thick brother and cousin weren't going on any adventure without him.


	2. Guilt, Pain, and Tears

A quite tapping came at the Burrow door, and Molly Weasley instantly paused at her washing, her whole body tense as she called out, "Who's there?"

"It's Tonks, Molly," a soft voice replied.

"And how am I supposed to-" Molly began suspiciously as she cracked open the door, but she stopped in her tracks. "Oh, Sweetheart."

The younger witch stumbled in through the door, straight in to Molly Weasley's arms. "Nymphadora Tonks," she mumbled, "Metamorphmagus, Member of the Order of the Phoenix, responsible in part for the scar above your second eldest son's left eyebrow, though I had nothing to do with the tattoo on his-"

"Alright, Alright," Molly interrupted hastily.

"Sorry," Tonks muttered, eying her shoes warily.

Molly's voice softened slightly. "What's the matter, love?"

"Nothing, I-"

"Don't give me that, Nymphadora."

Tonks winced at the sound of her first name, but didn't seem to be able to conjure up the energy to reprimand her for it. Molly was definitely concerned. Tonks had developed a habit of turning up after no one had heard from her for days, sometimes weeks at a time. Today especially, she looked exhausted bordering on the point of ill, and the brief smile she offered Molly didn't reach her eyes. She had lost weight too, Molly noticed her clothes were colorless and hung off her, and her hair… She hadn't seen it brown since she had been at Hogwarts, and in those days she had taken to streaking it multiple colors around the brown…

"Come on, love. Something's upsetting you," Molly coaxed, reaching out a hand.

Her eyes darted away, scrutinizing the dishes in the sink now. "I- er- I mean to- I've got a message from Dumbledore."

Molly felt herself recoil. For Dumbledore to send a person instead of an owl or patronous meant big time news… Usually very bad big time news.

"No, no, nothing like that!" Tonks said hastily, "He just asked me to let you know he's bringing Harry around morning, to stay the summer!"

Molly relaxed slightly. "Well, that's a relief. I do worry him, shut up with those awful relatives…"

Tonks shifted her feet nervously. "Well, I'd best be going," she announced, stepping slightly towards the door.

Molly's head snapped back towards her. "You couldn't stay for a cup of tea, could you?" she asked gently, adding, "No one's heard from you in weeks, Nymphadora."

"Please, Molly," she corrected, without a trace of her usual venom. To her question, she said, "I think I'd better go, Aurors are stretched a bit thin at the moment, and if I don't-"

"Surely half an hour wouldn't hurt," Molly said gently, "I can see you're upset, love. Just a cup of tea…"

Tonks sighed. She knew if Molly had her way, she wasn't going anywhere. And Molly had a way of always getting her way… Except with Sirius, of course, but he- her shoulders slumped. It was all her fault. All of it.

From nowhere, she felt tears begin to build at the back of her eyes, and she turned to conceal them, but not nearly fast enough. "Oh, honey," Molly said gently, placing an arm around her bony shoulders and guiding her towards the table, flicking her wand at the kettle as she did so, which managed to pour its suddenly steamy contents into two large, round mugs.

Molly watched as she shivered, instinctively pulling her long, black cloak tighter around herself as Molly carried the Mugs to the table, sinking down into one of the heavy wooden chairs beside her as she said, "Alright, love."

Tonks just shook her head silently as a large tear began to roll down her pale cheek.

"Is it something at work, love?" Molly prodded, squeezing her hand gently. "If I've told Kingsley Shacklebolt once, I've told him a thousand times,"

"No, No, Molly, Kingsley's been wonderful…" when he's not asking questions, she added in her head.

"Something with the Order, then?" she pressed.

Tonks shook her head quietly, and Molly sighed, leaning back a bit in her chair. "It's still Sirius, isn't it?"

Tonks put her head in her hands, tears beginning a steady stream down her cheeks. "S- some," she admitted.

Molly put an arm around her. "And what about Remus?"

Tonks looked up, startled. "H-How did you-?"

"Love, it's how you two act, how you've been acting ever since-,"

she paused, uncertain, and Tonks burst into fresh tears, her shoulders heaving with sobs as she confessed, "E-Ever since- since Sirius, I-it's l-like I- I don't even exist anymore, he- he w-won't even l-look at m-me… He blames me, I k-know he does… E-Even I b-blame me, I-I was s-so stupid and s-slow…"

Molly is quiet for a moment as she pulls the younger witch into a hug. Finally, sounding choked herself, she whispered, "Sweetheart, no one blames you. Lest of all Remus, sweetie, he blames himself."

"H-Himself?" Tonks choked, "But how can he think-?"

"Honey, it's no one's fault. No one but Bellatrix. Remus thinks he should have pushed harder to keep Sirius home, that he should have forced him back like Dumbledore ordered, but he thought Sirius deserved a chance, and he let him come. He's been kicking himself ever since."

"But- But that's-…"

"I know, love, but you're not making much more sense. If she hadn't dueled with you first, she would have dueled with someone else."

"I- but Remus…"

"Remus just needs time to sort things out. Have you told him? How you feel, I mean?"

"Yes," she replied miserably.

"What's the problem, then?"

Tonks snorted slightly. "He's too old, he's too poor, he's _dangerous_. Does he honestly think I give a-"

They were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Molly pulled away from her and stood. Tonks's hand jumped to her wand, though she kept it hidden in her pocket.

"Who's there? Declare yourself!" she called through the door, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

"It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry," a serene voice replied.

Both relaxed, and Molly tugged open the door. Tonks took the moment to wipe her eyes on her cloak, then contorted her face into a smile as the elderly wizard and the scrawny, dark haired teenager appeared in the doorway, and Molly said, "Harry dear! Gracious, Albus, you gave me a fright, you said not to expect you before morning!"

"We were lucky," said Dumbledore, ushering Harry over the threshold. "Slughorn proved much more persuadable than I had expected. Harry's doing, of course. Ah, hello, Nymphadora!"

She winced, glancing up as she felt all their eyes turn to her, Molly apprehensively, Dumbledore with polite concern, and Harry obvious curiosity. "Hello Professor, Wotcher, Harry!" she said, forcing her smile a bit wider.

"Hi, Tonks," Harry replied. She could feel his eyes looking at her, determining whether she was alright. She didn't need to be interrogated by Dumbledore or Harry at the moment.

"I'd better be off," she said quickly, standing up and pulling her cloak around her shoulders. "Thanks for the tea and sympathy, Molly." Get out, she told herself. Get out before he notices you've been crying.

But it was not to be. At that moment, as Dumbledore was opening his mouth to reply, a flash of light lit the kitchen, followed by a cloud of thick purple smoke so consuming she could feel her test tightening and her breath catching.

"Fred! _Cough Cough_ George!" Molly bellowed, "I thought I told you to go to bed!"

"But as the smoke cleared and a babble of voices broke out, it became clear that this was not Fred and George. No, she had no idea what this was at all.


	3. Not There, Here

"Auror Squad Five, report to the information deck! Auror Squad Five to the Information Deck, Please!"

Teddy groaned, massaging his temples as his godfather's magically enhanced voice reverberated through the building. His squad was the next to lowest in rank, they almost never got dispatched. Normally, he enjoyed missions, but today… there was a complication.

He glanced over to the chair in the corner of the office where his son was curled, fast asleep. Two year old Remus William Lupin's nap place was not typically his dad's office, but Victiore had an appointment at Saint Mungo's to check up on the baby- babies, as he had to keep reminding himself, it was going to be twins; and the last time, Remus had escaped and nearly managed to get himself stuck in the surgery ward, so they had decided it would be best if Teddy took him to work. Now he was in all likelihood getting sent out to fight dark wizards.

Making up his mind, Teddy stood and shook his little boy awake. "Wake up, Remie," he whispered gently.

The little boy woke, blinking sleep out of his big brown eyes, his dark blond hair standing on end. "Daddy, what?"

Teddy scooped him up into his arms, saying softly, "Come on, buddy. We're going to see what Uncle Harry wants, then I'll have to run outside for a bit, so we'll set you up with Auntie Hermione, alright?"

"Okie, Daddy." He murmured, nestling his little head into Teddy's neck and falling back asleep.

"Teddy!" Harry Potter, head of aurors exclaimed as Teddy hurried into information.

Teddy placed a finger to his lips, indicating Remus with his head.

Harry's voice dropped a tone, but he couldn't disguise the panic in his voice as he said, "Thank Merlin, Ted, I was hoping for you, I need you to go check up on the Burrow, our sensors detected a strong break in the magic flow, and no one's answering the floo. Knowing James and his fondness for underage magic, not to mention poking around in my study, it could be anything!"

"I'll say," Teddy whispered in reply, "Remember the wedding?"

"Yours or Dominique's?" Harry replied, grinning slightly, "He caused mayhem at both."

"I was referring to mine, Lily had more to do with Dom's."

"Did she really?" Harry said, looking amused.

Teddy nodded. "James was responsible for the premature fireworks, but it was Lily who convinced him to charm them quite so…. Vividly."

"Quite so disastrously, you mean?"

"Well…"

"Teddy, they _repelled water_! He set the lake on fire!"

"No one was hurt, though, and it was quite… colorful."

"Let's hope the same is true this time. I assigned you a mission, didn't I? Off with you!"

"Ahem?" he shifted Remus slightly in his arms.

"I'll take him," Harry said.

Teddy handed him off, then stepped in to the floo with a cry of, "The Burrow!"

He knew as soon as he entered that there was indeed something wrong. There was no sound, none at all.

Footsteps running downstairs, beginning at all floors of the Burrow could be heard beneath an outbreak of voices from the hall.

"OUCH!"

"JAMES WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"It's not all my fault!"

"Owww!"

"Jms, yr skshing ne! Gt ff!"

"Has anyone seen my glasses?"

"Where the bloody hell are we?"

"Um, guys? GUYS!"

Tonks had hurried behind Molly into the hall, where they were met with a whole pile of children. Children. In the hall of the burrow. A teenager with short, spikey red hair and freckles was sitting, staring at me in alarm. He was the last to have spoken, his voice rising above the others.

Another boy, about the same age, with black hair and freckles pulled himself out next to the first boy, and his eyes widened. I didn't blame him. Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Fleur, Harry, Molly, Dumbledore, and I all had our wands drawn and pointed straight at them.

The two boys scrambled to their feet, tossing their own wands down on the floor as they did so, a gesture of innocence and surrender.

The next person to jump to her feet followed no such preliminaries.

"JAMES!" she shrieked, and boxed the dark haired boy square in the ear. She kicked the other boy across the shin for good measure. Then she turned and noticed us. "Oh…." She removed her wand from her pocket and placed it on the floor as well.

She had bushy red-brown hair braided behind her head, freckles, and an annoyed expression I was sure I'd seen somewhere. She was probably a few years younger than the two boys beside her, same with the boy who stood up beside her. The boy, now he was a double-taker. He looked almost exactly like Harry Potter. Was it her imagination, or did they all look a bit like Weasleys?

Dumbledore stepped forward. His face was serious, but his eyes gave him away, they were sparkling like mad. Why did she get the impression he already knew the answer to the question he next asked? "If I may, who are you, what are you doing here, and how did you manage to get past the protective enchantments?"

The dark haired boy stepped forward in a bow so low and sweeping he nearly bonked heads with one of the children still on the ground. "I'm James Sirius Potter, Professor," he announced as he straightened up, "And I'm here to save your life."


	4. Not Where, When?

Whatever Mad-Eye said, the children sitting in the line of chairs facing the members of the Order who had been good enough to turn up at… oh, let him think…, Three in the bloody morning… looked nothing like death eaters. A few had their heads down on the table, asleep or awake it was hard to tell, others were just slumped in their chairs, staring around the room or at the ceiling. A small clump of them had huddled their chairs together and were whispering, and he got the impression they were being listened to quite closely by at least three members of the Order.

"-can't bloody tell them now, don't you get it? We're too late!"

"We're not too late, they're all still alive…"

"Except Sirius. They're too far gone, James. Look at Teddy's parents, his Mum hasn't stopped looking at his dad all night."

"Exactly! Look, he should be already conceived by now, right? That's why she looks so off, her husband's gone and left her, so all we have to do is mess things up enough that he doesn't come back!"

"I-"

"Arthur," Kingsley whispered, and he leaned over closer to him.

"Yeah?"

"What d'you reckon?"

"I think they're for real."

Teddy had been trained for this. With Remus clinging to his leg and Miles Riker, Kenny Jordan, and Emily Wood at his back, his Godfather and Uncle Ron bringing up the rear, he cautiously scanned the room the boys had slept in last night.

Four sloppy, unmade camp beds lined the bare walls. There were pajamas and slippers and discarded socks everywhere, and the teddy bear Hugo pretended he didn't sleep with lay discarded on the floor on its back. For somewhat obvious reasons, Teddy had grown to dislike teddy bears, despite having slept with one (named Stuffy) when he'd been younger.

From what he could gather, they had undressed quickly. He turned to Harry. "What pajamas were they wearing last night?"

Harry thought a moment. "James had on one of his Quidditch practice shirts and gym shorts, and I know Hugo had the Chudley Cannon patterned silks we got him for Christmas, same with Albus and the navy and gold snitch pajamas. I don't know what… Oh, Fred had those Simpsons pants he nicked from Arthur. Louis was wearing the button down shirt with the dragon pattern from Charlie, I think."

Something caught Teddy's eye, and he stopped and stared, setting Remus on one of the beds. "And who had on the ruffled pink Weird Sisters tank top?"

Harry kept an absolutely straight face. "Fred."

Teddy whacked him. "Really."

"That's Roxanne's. I think she got it as a gag gift from some girl in her year."

"And it's in here… why? Are they stripping to nudity together, now?"

"I really don't want to know."

Teddy frowned at the ground. "Right…. This pile of clothes. The Simpsons pants and Gryffindor T-shirt are sticking out from the bottom, so they probably changed first, then the rest of them, then Roxanne…. And isn't this Lily's?" he held up a faded purple and grey t-shirt with a rearing unicorn on the front.

Harry nodded. "So James or Fred got some whacked idea, then woke the rest of the boys up, and they made enough noise to wake the girls up, who then followed them…. Where?"

But Teddy wasn't listening. Remus had slipped to the floor on the other side of James's bed and was now playing with something. His head popped up, dark blond hair sticking up in all directions and covered with dust. He sneezed, almost dropping the thing in his hand. Teddy launched himself over, grabbing it.

"I don't think we need to worry about where they are."

"Oh?" Harry asked, turning to face him.

Teddy turned back to Harry, dangling the time-turner by its long, golden chain. "I think we have to worry about when."

"Right," Mad-Eye Moody said, pointing a gnarled finger in James's face. "You say your name is James, but who are you, really?"

James glanced at Arthur and pointed. "I'm his grandson."

"I get that. Who are your parents? With the black hair, I'm inclined to think…" he jerked his head of wild grey hair in Harry's direction. The sixteen year old version of his father looked mortified.

"My name is James Sirius Potter. My parents are Harry and Ginny Potter. Would you like rank and serial number too, or my O.W.L. grades? Or should I dance? I'm bloody wicked at tap."

Moody opened his mouth to snap at him, but the bushy haired girl in the seat next to him had already elbowed him in the gut.

"How about you," he chose to ask instead, pointing at her.

"Rose Jean Granger. My parents are Hermione and Ron."

Molly smiled from across the table.

"Hey, wait!" James protested. "I'm in Gryffindor, and I play seeker for the house team, and I'm captain."

"We're all horrifically proud of you," Rose snapped.

"House?" Moody asked her.

"Gryffindor."

"Ages, both of you."

"I'm almost seventeen." James said.

"Just turned fourteen," Rose added.

"And you," Moody said, nodding at the boy who looked so much like Harry.

"I'm fourteen too," he said.

Moody looked annoyed to be dealing with such idiots. "Name?" he snapped.

"Albus Potter," he said.

"Full name, Albus," James jibed.

"Almph mmph mumphum."

Rose elbowed him too, and under Moody's intense glare, he admitted, "Albus Severus Potter."

There were a few raised eyebrows, but no one said anything, much to the scrawny boy's relief.

"House?"

"Slytherin. And you're all pretty proud of me in the future, so you can go stuff your heads if you think you have an objection. And if I were to be a braggart like James, I'd tell you I'm seeker too, and I beat him last year, scoring the Quidditch cup for my house."

"I am going to tactfully decline comment there, I have too many sons," Arthur Weasley said pleasantly. "You?" he asked, pointing

"Fredrick Gideon Weasley. Gryffindor. Sixteen. Beater, like Dad and- well, never mind. My Dad's George, Mum's Angelina. What was her maiden name… Jansen?"

"Johnson,"a girl with curly red hair and brown eyes supplied, ignoring the slightly strange looks people were giving her brother. "I'm Roxanne. I'm twelve, and in Gryffindor, and I'm a chaser."

Molly was still giving Fred odd looks, ones yet another red haired boy interrupted with a slight cough. "Moving merrily along," he said pointedly, "I'm Louis Arthur Weasley, I'm a Ravenclaw, I play keeper, I'm fifteen, what else…. Oh. My parents are Bill and Fleur Delawhatsit."

"Delacour." A younger boy with rather wavy hair said helpfully.

"Are you my other son, then?" Bill asked hopefully.

"No I- Wow, you look different. No scars or anything. I'm Hugo Fredrick Weasley, Rose's sister and Ron and Hermione's son. I've not started Hogwarts yet. It's next year, because I just turned eleven."

"Same with me," said a girl who looked startlingly like Ginny. "Lily Luna Potter. I turn eleven this summer."

"And we're Percy's." A little blonde girl with freckles to her right said. "I'm Lucy, I'm only seven, actually, I'm the littlest except for Rem-"

"Except for your imaginary friend," the girl beside her cut across quickly with what her cousins understood to be a 'let's-not-complicate-things-by-getting-into-Teddy-right-now' look, "I'm Molly. I'm thirteen, and I'm in Gryffindor. I haven't made the team yet because Cap'n Potter over there thought he'd get some rude remarks if his whole team was made up of cousins-" a girl with thick red pigtails began irritatedly.

"I'll have you know Rochester was at least five times better than you," James interrupted angrily, "And what am I supposed to do, kick Magnolia Longbottom off? She and Allie Wood have been playing since before you were even here-"

"Just because Maggie's your _girlfriend_," Molly taunted, but her younger sister nudged her.

"Maybe some other time?" she whispered.

Molly shrugged and subsided.

"So-" Harry Potter said. "The question here is-"

"Why are you here?" Dumbledore finished for him.


	5. Questions and Answers

"Why are we here?" James asked incredulously. "We're here to-,"

"Because James was messing around in our father's study again," Albus interrupted.

Rose picked up the flow seamlessly. "He dragged this experimental whosiemajig out of Dad's briefcase, and then he managed to drop it, and then everything started pitching around, and then next thing we knew, we were being held at wandpoint by our own grandparents."

There were some amused snorts, and some suspicious looks. Rose waited with baited breath.

"Very well," Headmaster Dumbledore said finally, "You are here, but how do you intend to go about getting home?"

Every single child in the room turned to look at James, who blushed furiously. "Well, that's the question, isn't it?"

* * *

"You think they're where?"

Harry winced at his wife's furious expression through the floo. "The past? Ron reckons he heard voices, outside the door the other night. They might've gone back to... do things themselves." he said.

Ginny drew in a long, slow breath. "James," she hissed.

"Impeccable guesswork," Harry mumbled in reply.

* * *

"You think they're where?"

Ron chewed his lower lip, staring into the flames. "The Burrow, in the middle of the war."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry's timeturner?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"Even the girls?"

"Yep."

Hermione sighed. "James?"

"However did you guess?"

* * *

"You think they're where?"

Harry sighed into the flame. "The Burrow, 1996."

Percy groaned. "It's that bloody time turner, isn't it? They told you not to bring it home."

"Ye-"

"In fact, I think they actually specifically told you not to," he stormed.

"Tech-,"

"You know, if you were in my department, I'd suspend you," Percy added.

"I didn't-"

"You could end up facing a full out inquiry for this." He said officially.

"Seeing as I'm head of-,"

"Maybe in front of the entire Wizengemot, you know how they get about these things."

"I think-,"

"I do wonder if they'll knock you from your position."

"That's highly unlik-,"

"I might, though I suppose it would depend on if they get back safely or not."

"If-,"

"You do have a plan, don't you?"

"Actua-,"

"Are there any more of those experimental timeturners?"

"Ye-,"

"How did they manage to get their hands on it anyway?"

"We think-,"

"You should have had it under lock and key."

"Well,"

"That's lack of professionalism right there."

"I had it-,"

"It was James, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

* * *

"You think they're where?"

"1963," Ron said.

Angelina rolled her eyes and called over her shoulder, "George, James and Fred have stolen the bloody time turner and landed themselves in the middle of the war!"

Ron could hear a distant, muffled voice, somewhere in his brother's store on the receiving end of the floo call. "Maybe they'll do some good!"

* * *

"Long day, love?" Victiore Lupin asked sympathetically upon her return from the hospital, peering over her husband's shoulder at the load of papers he had brought to his home office.

"You've no idea," Teddy replied, setting his turquoise quill down and turning to face her.

"What-," she began, brow furrowed.

"Mummy!" A voice interrupted, followed by the patter of feet from down the hall.

"Remie!" Victiore exclaimed, scooping him into her arms. "Did you have a good day at work with Daddy?"

"Yes! We goed to Granmum's!" he exclaimed, wiggling and kicking his feet to be set down.

"You ….. went to Granmum's?" Victiore repeated, turning to face Teddy with a raised eyebrow.

"That… was what I was going to tell you." Teddy said dully.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. The kids may have slightly found a time turner… and sent themselves back to the Burrow in 1963? And then dropped the time turner, so they're stuck there?"

"Oh? And where was this timeturner?"

"Harry's study."

"James and Fred. Again."

"Of course. What's for dinner?"

Victiore smiled slightly. "I put stew on the stove before I left. I'd best go and finish it up, if you're that hungry."

Teddy nodded, his eyes unfocused.

Victiore turned to leave, then smiled briefly at him. "We're going to get them back, you know."

Teddy nodded again.

Once she had left, he turned to face the picture propped on his desk. It showed a man and a woman locked in tight embrace. It appeared to be cold out, as both wore coats, hats and gloves. The man's coat was a ragged brown, the woman's purple. Out from beneath the edges of her black knit cap fell untidy strands of bubblegum pink hair.

And Teddy Lupin fingered the time turner in his pocket, telling himself repeatedly in his head, _"It's too dangerous. It's too dangerous. It's too dangerous."_

The question was whether or not he cared.

* * *

Quidditch. The boys were all out in the orchard playing _Quidditch_. Rose was disgusted. She stood beside Lily at the kitchen window facing the yard and watched scornfully as Harry and her father and Fred and George and all of her cousins tossed the balls back and forth, through the air.

But then Lily said from beside her, "It's so strange, seeing him alive, and seeing Uncle George this happy."

And Rose saw the game through different eyes. They all looked happier, freer.

But from behind the two came the voice; "Alive? As in, someone's dead in your time?"

And both girls turned and found themselves face to face with their mothers.


End file.
